A Mother's Love
by padfootastic
Summary: A look at mothers in the HP world who, though fictional, taught us a great deal about love, courage, hardships, bravery and so much more.
1. Hope Lupin

_**A mother being protective of her child.**_

 _ **Word count: 2068**_

Hope Lupin did not acknowledge the fact that her eyes were moist with unsure tears. She did not move to wipe the stubborn tear that escaped it's confines and fell down her cheek. Her gaze was firmly fixed on the small, not quite six year old standing in the park, shyly offering his hand to a girl of the same age. The boy was dressed in a full sleeved shirt and pants that completely covered his legs, despite being in the middle of June. He had scars,some old, some quite new, covering his face. The girl, however was his polar opposite. She was wearing a light blue tank top with matching shorts, looking as comfortable as was possible. Her lips were pulled up in a huge smile, and in front of Hope's watering eyes, she grabbed onto the boy's hand firmly before pulling him towards the swings. The boy, Remus Lupin, had a look of guarded wonder on his face, as if… as if he was not quite used to being in the company of energetic six year olds who wanted to play in the park with him. When he reached the swing, it was clear the girl wanted him to push her. He turned towards the bench his mother was sitting on and even from such a distance she could see the panic and the hesitance and the fear and _the hope_ in his eyes and it broke her heart. It broke her heart to see her precious son being afraid to play with someone his age, afraid he would hurt them. Despite her blurry vision, she gave him a huge smile and a wave of her hand, telling him to play to his heart's content. Still unconvinced, but armed with his mother's permission now, Remus turned to the girl who was waiting impatiently for him, and gingerly started pushing the swing she was sitting on. The tiny brunette let out a huge squeal before tightly grabbing onto the chains, her smile becoming impossibly wider. Remus had a tiny smile on his face, as well, the fear slowly draining away from his brown eyes.

Hope's thoughts, meanwhile,had wandered to that terrible night that changed her son, changed her family.

 _Remus was playing in their yard, like he usually did every evening. He was a happy child, easily pleased, and he didn't require much attention either. Normally, Hope would be right beside him as well but that day her husband had brought home some Ministry officials for lunch, and she was cleaning up after them. She was dancing around in the kitchen, waving her broom around, humming the song that had caught her fancy, a magical number by Celestine to be precise, when she heard it. The scream that terrified her to her core, froze the blood in her veins. She had dropped the broom and ran out to the yard. For one blissful second she could see nothing. And then, as if a switch was turned on, as if her world changed to colour from a black and white film, she could see the blood pooling around her only son's body. The said son was lying motionless, and there was a vicious man, no…..creature, standing over him with his lips pulled up in an evil smile. His mouth had protruding teeth which were dropping with blood, and as she was watching, a tongue flicked out to lick them clean. Hope recoiled in horror, but managed to scream loud enough to alert their nearest neighbors, who were, luckily, magical._

Eyes still trained on her son, now laughing along with the girl, Hope sunk deeper into her memories.

 _She had grabbed the object nearest to her, which turned out to be a rake, and ran at the beast who was about to bite her son. Again, it seemed by the look of things. She did not stop to dwell on that for she knew she would be useless if she did, and with a loud shout she brought the rake down on the beast- Greyback, if her husband's Ministerial reports were to be believed- impaling it into the side of his neck. To her shock, and horror, it barely slowed the beast down and did not render him unconscious as she had hoped. She had barely managed to remove the rake when he had pounced on her. Her hands had immediately gone up to protect her face and she could feel his breath on her face, stinking like rotten eggs, could see those decayed yellow teeth baring down at her, about to rip her apart and she had accepted that she was going to die, only wishing that she had had more time with her son, when the beast suddenly toppled over her. Shocked, both at the way he fell over and how she had come so close to her death, she hadn't been able to move until Mary, her neighbor grabbed her arm and made her sit up. She could remember the fog in her mind lifting and she was panicking, wailing for her son and Mary had kept telling her that he was fine and he would be completely alright in a few days and she didn't have to worry but she had just wanted her son._

 _She had blindly grabbed around, aching to feel his familiar body in her arms again, his soft brown hair tickling her chin and his giggles chasing away the darkness and the chill that was beginning to surround her. Her brain refused to forget the pool of blood her beautiful baby boy was lying in, unconscious, limbs twisted in unnatural positions._

In the present, Remus was now the child on the swing and the girl was pushing him. It wasn't too hard, for he had always been a small child, thin for his age. There were others walking around, kids chasing each other, laughter ringing in the park. Teens were hanging out in groups and parents were gossiping but Hope only had eyes for her little boy laughing like he had no care in the world. It had been…. _so long_ since he had acted like he was a child. So long since he looked as carefree as he did now, as he should've always been. So long since his shoulders weren't dropping like they held the weight of the world on them. Hope brought up a hand to her mouth to stop the sob from escaping. She didn't quite know if it was from sadness, sadness at the knowledge that her baby boy lost his childhood in such a brutal way or if it was because she was _so proud_ of her child for holding on, for trying to live his life, despite everything he had gone through in his short life.

 _She was still in a panicked daze when she was admitted to St. Mungos. Her husband was floo'd from his office and only given the bare minimum of details. He arrived in a flurry of impatience and fear, not knowing what had happened, merely that his son and wife had been attacked. He entered the room she was sitting in, numb from the shock and yet, reaching out for Remus, and immediately gathered her up in his arms, trying to dispel the fear that had taken residence in both their hearts. She had tried to speak, to ask him where Remus was, what was going to happen next, why he wasn't with their child but he had just shushed her, kissed the top of her head and told her everything was going to be alright. She felt frustration, and helplessness coursing through her. IT WAS HER CHILD DAMMIT.! She needed to know, she wanted to sob out. But no one was helping her, no one was willing to tell her anything, merely giving her looks filled with pity and sympathy and was that...disgust?_

She could see the brown haired girl's mother approaching her now. She looked at the little girl disapprovingly, grabbed her arm and led her away. But the girl, bless her, managed to twist around and shout to the boy she had managed to befriend in such a short time that she hoped to see him again and that she had fun with him. _Fun._ She could see how the words affected her son. The wonder and awe were back on his face, even as he lifted his hand to wave to her. He looked at the swing for a minute, contemplating, shook his head and then turned to walk back to his mother. Walk, never run, always act ci-vi-lised, never be anything other than normal. Hope had heard him reciting these lines to himself one day, in the safety of his room. Her heart had broken in little pieces at seeing her son wiping his tears fiercely, staring at himself in the mirror and visibly willing himself not to break down. He was only five, she wanted to scream to the world. He didn't deserve to go through this hell. He was supposed to be loud and mischievous and rebellious like f year olds should be, not this.

 _They finally told them what had happened. He bit him. Greyback Fenrir bit him. He bit her precious baby boy. She heard the whispers in the hallway as she walked to his room, saw the pity thrown her way. She kept her head up high, she would not let these people shame her from seeing her own son. But as soon as she entered his room, she broke down in uncontrollable sobs. Remus was lying on the hospital bed, looking weak and small. His left leg was placed in a cast, his arms were wrapped in bandages and there was a weird wire going under his arm. She could feel her husband coming up behind her and letting out a choked sob, but she could do little more than fall to her knees beside his bed and hold his tiny hand in hers, her hands grabbing on to his as if they were her lifeline, the last thread to her sanity and maybe it was._

 _He didn't wake up for eight days. She had been right beside him the whole time, never moving once, hoping and praying that he would wake up and she could see his beautiful brown eyes. Her husband had to force feed her just so she could eat something._

"Mama! Mama! Did you see that? Her name was Anna. She actually wanted to play with me!" Hope was torn between sobbing at the sheer surprise in his voice that someone would want to willingly talk to him and happiness at seeing her son almost bouncing on his heels in excitement that couldn't be contained.

She bent forward and picked him up, placing him on her lap, ignoring his protest of 'Ma, no!" She ran a hand through his soft brown hair and replied, "I did, baby. It looked like you were having a lot of fun."

He nodded so hard he almost fell off her lap, making her laugh, "I did! She even let me push her on the swings. I'm so happy you let me come to the park today, mama. Thank you, I love you!" His small arms wrapped as far around her waist as they could and tightly squeezed.

Hope hugged him back just as firmly and whispered into his hair, "I'm so proud of you, my love. So proud. I wish you could always be this happy."

Remus looked at her with confusion, but happily complied when she kissed his forehead and told him to sleep, he must be very tired after such an exciting day.

 _The day Remus woke up, exactly eight days and thirty four minutes after the attack, he was told what happened. The doctor couldn't quite conceal his disgust which was clear as day even to the nearly five year old who flinched every time he was talked to. It was that day when her son cowered at the sight of his parents, afraid they would reject him, that Hope made a promise to herself, that she would never, ever let him feel unwanted. He may be a werewolf, but he was her baby boy first and she would be damned if she let him be hurt again._

 ** _Well, this was a bit different to what/how I usually write. For one, this is for the March Event-Mother's Day task. Depending on how much I'm able to write, this will include more one shots, BUT none of them will be connected, so technically this is completed hehe. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review! :")_**

 ** _I would like to thank_** ** _Gilgalen_** ** _for their continued support, it's really helped me with my confidence, so thank you SO much 3_**


	2. Euphemia Potter

_**Just another little drabble where I've somehow managed to fit Sirius in as well xD (I apologize for so much Sirius Black, but I cannot get enough of him)**_

 _ **Please review :")**_

Euphemia Potter had not been in sorted in Ravenclaw for nothing. Even as a young child of eleven, she had been extremely observant, preferring to stay in the background and observe silently rather than be a part of the crowd. It never bothered her that she was never the center of attention, for she was had always been shy and amenable, only coming out of her shell when she met Fleamont in 5th year. Her observant nature, however, stayed. And it was because of this quality of hers that she was able to see what Sirius Black was hiding, or at the very least, trying very hard to hide.

Oh, he laughed and danced around all right, pranking the living daylights out of poor Mopsy and making it up to her by baking her her favorite vanilla muffins. He randomly broke out in song during dinnertime, swirling every Potter member around as if they were on the dance floor. His lips were always quirked in that charming grin of his, but she could see that his eyes had lost their sparkle. When before they were a bright grey, swirling with emotions, now they were emotionless and guarded, tight shields locked in place. She saw a hint of his older self when he was with James, but it was not enough, it did not comfort her. She saw the way his body flinched when her husband would swing a heavy arm on his shoulder, and guide him outside. She saw the slight tremors that went through his hand when he raised his wand, or held a spoon.

Her baby boy, for he had been hers since First Year when James had come running to her on the platform, holding a pale, skinny boy's hand. A boy with too wide eyes and too long hair, who stammered too much and apologized too frequently and wouldn't meet her eyes until at least Second Year.

He had been hers from the moment she saw the bruises on his ribs, and the scars on his back and a flare of anger unlike anything she'd ever known coursed through her at the thought of this innocent little boy being hurt by anyone.

He had been hers since the time he accidentally called her mom in Fourth Year and wasn't able to look her in the eye until she had to tell him, quite firmly, that she wouldn't respond to being called anything but that. He had never called her Mrs. Potter again.

And it was her precious son that crash-Apparated into their lawn, broken and bloodied and for the second time in her life, Euphemia was overcome with an anger that was far worse than she had ever felt. Each wound on Sirius' body was like a personal stab to her heart. She had fallen to her knees when she saw his hunched body, and cradled his limp form in her arms, his blood staining her white cotton dress. Mopsy had screamed when she saw her covered in blood, and tried to take Sirius away, but she would not have it. She wasn't able to rest until Sirius was stable.

That night, she stayed in the golden and red room, right beside his bed, ready for anything and everything, but also because his deep breaths calmed her aching heart and comforted her anxiety. When she had seen him lying in a pool of his own blood, the green grass stained red, something broke within her, and fear gripped her heart and her lungs, squeezing it until she felt like she couldn't breathe, only loosening when she saw him wrapped in the familiar gold comforter, sleeping peacefully. She could almost convince herself that everything was okay if she looked past the ghostly pale face and the periodic tremors. Almost.

When he had woken up three days later, dazed and frightened, she had been the first person to comfort him, knowing James wouldn't be able to handle him in such an unpredictable state. She had placed his head on her lap, running her hands through his hair and sung his favorite lullaby, feeling his frantic breaths even out as she did. It comforted her more than she could have imagined that he still fell asleep in her lap to her singing.

Now, almost two weeks since that incident, no one could even imagine the smiling young boy going through something so terrible, especially at the hands of people who were supposed to be his parents. Supposed to be, Euphemia thought fiercely, but not actually his parents for they had lost that right years ago, the first time they ever laid a wand on their son and their Heir.

But Euphemia knew better, for she was the one who was there beside him every night he woke up in cold sweat, trembling as if he had lived through the Cruciatus in his nightmares as well. She was the one who held him firmly and lovingly, comforting him. She was the one who brushed his fringe off his sweaty forehead to place a kiss on the crown of his, knowing how much the young Black liked it.

She was the one in whose arms he would eventually fall asleep.

 _ **Prompt(s): A mother mothering someone else's child. (Mother's Day event)**_

 _ **word count: 870**_

 _ **Also, written for Hogwarts Assignment #10, Lineage Studies: Potter Family. Character: Euphemia Potter.**_


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